Conflict leaves babies stranded in Gaza hospital

Three premature babies have to share an incubator as resources are stretched. Credit: APTN

Hospital staff in Gaza are battling to keep their youngest patients alive, as the conflict means some parents are unable to take their newborns home.

Footage from the maternity ward in the Shifa hospital shows how stretched resources are - with three babies sharing an incubator that is meant to only hold one newborn.

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One mother has been forced to take refuge in the hospital after fleeing the Shejaia area of Gaza City following shelling from the Israeli military.

Wafa Said told the Associated Press the hospital had let her stay until she and her husband find somewhere to stay.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blamed the humanitarian crisis on what he called "Hamas's decision to turn hospitals into military command centres, use schools as weapons depots and place missile batteries next to playgrounds."

One of the doctors on the ward, Allam Abu Hamda, said many families were unable to collect their children because they had been displaced or their homes destroyed.

Power cuts and a lack of spare parts for equipment are making the problems worse, Dr Hamda said.

The World Health Organisation has now called for a "humanitarian corridor" in Gaza to help tend to the wounded and bring in medical supplies.